African Cup: Ivory Coast stumbles, Congo beats Morocco
OYEM, Gabon (AP) - Ivory Coast's Europe-based stars stumbled in the heat of northern Gabon in their African Cup of Nations opener, with the defending champion held by Togo to 0-0 on Monday in another twist to start the tournament.
Ivory Coast's title-winning coach fared worse as Congo beat Herve Renard's Morocco 1-0 in the day's second game.
Congo, a team that was on strike and refusing to train two days ago, finished with 10 men on the field and on top of Group D.
Ivory Coast created few clear chances against Togo, with Wilfried Zaha's blocked shot in the second half after a clever run probably its best. Zaha was substituted two minutes later and, although Ivory Coast pressed hard in stages, it never broke open Togo's well-drilled defense in the first game in Group C in the northern jungle town of Oyem.
Togo was competitive in the first half and had two good openings with around 10 minutes to go, when Kodjo Laba missed with a header from in front of goal and Mathieu Dossevi's deflected shot dropped onto the roof of the net.
Four of the first six games at the African Cup have been draws, with Ivory Coast's fellow title challenger, Algeria, held to 2-2 by Zimbabwe, a team that hasn't qualified for the African Cup in over a decade. Also, host Gabon couldn't beat outsider and tournament debutant Guinea-Bissau in the opening game.
"After Algeria-Zimbabwe and Gabon-Guinea-Bissau, we were very careful," Ivory Coast coach Michel Dussuyer said. "But we still have two (group) matches so we are still confident."
Togo even started better, and Dossevi was clear on goal in the 29th minute only for Ivorian goalkeeper Sylvain Gbohouo to smother the chance.
Zaha was at the heart of Ivory Coast's two best attacks, first in the first half when he sped down the right wing and sent across a dangerous low cross that was scrambled away. Then, in the 68th minute, he tricked his marker with a clever turn, cut inside, and hit a low shot that was headed to goal before two Togo defenders managed to get in the way.
Senegal and Congo are the only teams to win at the tournament.
Junior Kabananga got the winner for Congo in the 55th minute after a mistake from Morocco 'keeper Monir el-Kajoui. Congo's Lomalisa Mutambala was sent off for a wild tackle in the 81st and the Congolese played for about seven minutes with nine men when captain Gabriel Zakuani went off injured in the 83rd with all their substitutes used up. Zakuani returned in injury time but was limping heavily and not much use.
This victory was a major mood-changer for Congo, whose players refused to train on Friday and Saturday, claiming they hadn't been paid tournament bonuses. They also posted a video on social media during their strike, where they complained about their treatment.
On Monday, Morocco was the one frustrated: Midfielder M'Bark Boussoufa hit the crossbar in the second minute. Goalkeeper El-Kajoui tried to block a cross with his feet and managed only to divert the ball to Kabananga to score the winning goal. Then, substitutes Youssef En Nesyri and Youssef el-Arabi missed late chances.
Although Ivory Coast and later Renard failed their first tests at the tournament, the Stade d'Oyem held up despite a desperate race to be ready in time, which saw workers scrambling around the venue finishing all sorts of jobs on the day of the game. Television viewers won't have seen the construction debris that surrounds the outside of the stadium, which juts out of dense jungle canopy around 15 kilometers outside of Oyem.
Even organizers couldn't do anything about the heat during the opening match, though, with Togo coach Claude le Roy's shirt covered in dark sweat patches after urging his team on to a promising draw against the defending champion Ivorians.
"It was very hot. We were sweating so much," Le Roy said. "We did what it takes. We are satisfied with the draw."
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This story has been corrected to show Congo finished with 10 men on the field, not nine.
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Follow Gerald Imray on Twitter at https://twitter.com/GeraldImrayAP